Worms in the leaf bags.

**hunter63** · 06-16-2014, 09:11 PM

I generally save several bags of shredded leaves from the fall to add "browns" to the compost bins all summer.

Well, this year I got really behind on the garden, and haven't empting out the bins.....friend was gonna come over and start my shredder (can't pull the 10 hp starter cord yet) to get rid of the big stuff in the bins.....but hasn't come over yet.

So I just opened the last couple of bags of leaf mold and spread them out....rain coming.

One bag wasn't shredded, but had started to break down anyway....and was full of earth worms....all small and about the same size.

Now this was a heavy duty black trash bag....no holes, but the leaves had been wet when then went in the bag.

Where did all the worms come from?.....Are the eggs on the leaves?... or a couple of horny worms on the leaves when I raked them up?...and had babies?

http://www.worm-farming.com/worm-life-cycle.html

I have to say I was surprised....BUT these will replace the dumb ones that crawl out on the garage floor after a rain....die and dry up.........LOL

**Tokwan** · 06-16-2014, 09:29 PM

Fascinating..it would be good if we could keep a bag of ladies clothing and a bunch of Ruths came out......!

**Rick** · 06-17-2014, 07:07 AM

Leaf mold is like a worm Golden Corral. All you can eat. You should be charging admission.

**hunter63** · 06-17-2014, 05:57 PM

Originally Posted by Tokwan

Fascinating..it would be good if we could keep a bag of ladies clothing and a bunch of Ruths came out......!

LOL....Lets not get weird.....

Anyway, I like leave mold......used to pick up bags of leaves off the curb....when I didn't have trees.....
Really helps the garden.
Before compost bins....I just used the bags....just water the garbage bag and leave till spring.....and it almost done composting.

I was surprised as to how the worms got in there.

**Sunset Sam** · 06-17-2014, 06:45 PM

My bet is on there being worm cocoon sacs on the underside of some of the leaves you raked up. If the bag stayed unpunctured I don't see another way. BTW like you used to do we do a lot of leaf bag composting here because the bags help retain the heat and moisture in a cold and dry climate. In Spring, I often find a lot of earthworms on the soil surface just under the leaf bags, presumably because the warm bags warm up the soil quicker by conduction. A local entomologist friend told be that the worms in the mountains burrowed 6 to 10 feet deep in Winter to get below the frost line. I guess they go dormant until Spring. Your worms sound like they "got busy" all Winter.

For survival purposes, where someone is going to grow their own food, composting is a valuable skill as has been mentioned by you and others in other threads. Earthworms are great little composters so it is good to try to keep them happy. I bribe them with coffee grounds. Any chance you threw any coffee in your leaf bag?

**hunter63** · 06-17-2014, 07:46 PM

That goes in the bins......My bins are built from old pallets.

Up to last year nothing left my yard...all was composted or shredded, like the branches for mulch.

Lately I have been hauling off the old tomatoes and peppers at the end of the year....got some kind of blight.....and have been trying to get rid of it.